Heretofore, computer-generated data has been distributed to a remote location in two ways. The first approach is to print reports at the central computer site and ship them to a remote location. The second way is to install a serial printer at the remote site. If the central computer is a minicomputer then the data is taken from its communications port serially and transmitted to the remote serial printer. The use of a serial printer eliminates the manpower and associated costs in packing and shipping voluminous reports. But driving a remote serial printer from the communications port of a minicomputer partially diverts it from other tasks because every bit must be sensed before it is transmitted. Moreover, with a growing trend toward increased printing at remote locations, serial printers are being pushed beyond their duty cycles with an increased risk of printer breakdown. Further, serial printers are relatively slow compared to line-by-line printers.